


Avatar: the last benders

by morgansoul



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Avatar!AU, F/F, Minor Margarita/Philippa, Vanielle and Keira are dating here too because I like them together ok, minor Triss/Sabrina, modern!AU, sorry - Freeform, there are no heterosexual characters here, they are all benders, well maybe the usual people I use as villain because I don't care about them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:08:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28678647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgansoul/pseuds/morgansoul
Summary: The benders are reaching their extinction point, the Spirits left the human world and the humanity changed with the years. To some people, the end of the benders is a dream, to others, it's something close to the end of the world. The Red Lotus is back and they won't stop until they destroy the known world to rebuild it from its ashes.
Relationships: Tissaia de Vries/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Comments: 8
Kudos: 14





	Avatar: the last benders

**Author's Note:**

> I promised not to start it until I was done with exams (and one of the other fics), and what did I do? I started to write it. I have 0 sense of responsability with uni, F.
> 
> Anyway, I will only publish this bit until I'm really done with all the exams, just to check if this has some kind of future or not, I hope you enjoy it <3

_Water. Earth. Fire. Air._

Everyone knows the ancient legends about times of war and poverty, when the elements defined the world and only those who had control over them could control what surrounded them. However, there was only one person could master the four elements, the Avatar.

There was a time when the world was divided into four nations, one for each element. In the north and south, was the tribe of water, in the east was the kingdom of the earth and into the west was the nation of fire, while the nomads of the air had several temples throughout the world. Over time, however, things changed. First came Republic City, where benders of all elements and even normal people lived peacefully, thanks to the Avatar Aang; then, the most important capitals of the four nations were transformed to create different kingdoms, empires, republics... More wars started all over the Continent and avatars died trying to end them and protect the innocent people, most of them not even reaching eighteen.

The days of the benders were relegated to the old stories that mothers tell their children before going to sleep. With the rise of technology and time, the bender lost their usefulness and their role in the world. At first they were used as weapons, and then, when wars ended, they were condemned for their innate gifts. Their numbers gradually declined until they eventually ceased to be born. Nowadays, the number of benders is so small that there is only one academy left where they were taught to learn how to master their abilities and how to control them so that they are not a threat to society. Each government had at least one bender among its staff, in case any war was triggered that might require a force as primary as that of the bender —as well as to advise governments on the treatment of their bender citizens—, but their real role is often to advise every monarch, president or emperor on how to govern and improve the state of their people, for they have proven to be too selfish to care the way they should.

For years, all benders have been trained in the same school, so Aretuza was now the only institution that continued to stand still after the final closure of Ban Ard, as a result of the lack of students. Fewer and fewer benders were born, and people had forgotten the importance that the elements had for the world to be in balance. It had been almost ten thousand years since Avatar Korra died and the world had forgotten again. If those were not enough trouble, an avatar had not been born for more than two hundred years. It was said that the spirit of light and peace, Raava, decided to go back to the Spirit World and end the avatar's rebirth cycle with it. Portals are still open, yes, but spirits do not want to leave their world —and when they do so, it’s only to live in Aretuza or some forgotten place, far away from normal humans— and people do not visit the Spirit World unless they are benders seeking spiritual retreat.

Aretuza was located in the center of Thanedd Island, next to one of the four portals to the Spirit World —located in Tor Lara, a very high tower in the upper part of the academy—, in the kingdom of Temeria. The island had easy access to all the elements, so students did not usually abandon it until they had completely mastered their element and commit not to harm anyone or use their skills against anyone. Almost all benders decide to stay there to live —because they are repudiated by their families and society— and only on the school do they feel that they belong somewhere, that they have a home. Usually only those willing to serve in a court or government leave Aretuza.

* * *

Tissaia de Vries, Arch-mistress of Aretuza, rectoress of the school, earth and metalbender, capable to bend lava, had finally ended her rounds and headed back to her room. The day had been exasperatedly long, so the only thing that offered her a perspective of tranquility was the possibility of having a glass of wine in the company of her best friends; with some luck, Rita and Vanielle would have sneaked into her room by now to 'force her to relax for a while', so all she needed was to get there at once and stop thinking in all her problems and the one thing she had seen and could not banish from her mind.

Tissaia adored her students, she really did, but training young people between the age of two and thirty years was not as easy a task as it might seem. At least many of her favorite students had decided to stay there to help her in educating the new young benders. Vanielle and Triss, both earthbenders, were the most patient of all the people Tissaia had ever met. On the other hand, there were Rita and Philippa, airbenders, too restless and impulsive to descend from monks full of patience, volatile as leaves in the wind. Then there were Sabrina and Keira, waterbenders, who could be as tough and cold as ice, and they had a great ability to adapt to the various changes, constant in the world. And finally, there were Yennefer and Lytta, firebenders with a much stronger, impulsive and temperamental character than the vast majority would like to have to witness. While it was true that there were more benders —Istredd, another firebender, for example—, none of them were as dear to the rectoress as those women were, not to mention Francesca, Ida, and Sheala, three other benders who were currently working as school emissaries throughout the Continent, and who were the next on Tissaia’s list of people to worry about and to love.

Tissaia pushed her bedroom door with her body, too tired to keep her poise and facade. The only people who could receive her in her private chambers were her best friends and they had seen her in much worse situations than this one. With a deep sigh and without looking up from the floor, Tissaia closed the door by leaning back and pushing it with her back, standing against the wood for a few seconds. With her eyelids sealed, the rectoress pinched the bridge of her nose and gave a deep sigh, while removing her heels and leave them by the door. She was too tired to keep walking on her stilettos, despite how tall and hot they made her look.

"Come sit down at least," Vanielle offered one of the glasses full of wine, moving her hand in the direction of the chestnut, "it looks like a flying bison has passed you over".

"I doubt they're going to come out of the Spirit World and risk being killed by some hunter by accident, just to pass me over dear," when a warm hand took hers and pulled her into one of the sofas in front of the fireplace, Tissaia got carried away by the blonde and sat next to her, taking the glass Vanielle offered her.

"Anything interesting in the rounds?" Rita put her legs on the couch and emptied her glass of wine with a long sip.

"Nothing," Tissaia whispered, taking a sip of hers.

"Liar," Vanielle rolled her eyes and settling in her seat, closed them, "you know you can't lie to me, Ti".

"Alright, I ran into Yennefer in the hallway and she was in her pajamas," the rectoress grumbled.

"And what about her pajamas?" Rita smiled, taking advantage of the brunette's presence to get as much information as she could.

"Nothing..."

"Tissaia…"

"Okay, fine. I hate you two, but mostly you, Vanielle. She looked great on them, okay? I've never seen a Star Wars’ pajamas be so sexy!" The cheeks of the chestnut burned intensely in the face of that confession. Her friends laughed and Rita, being closer, surrounded her with one arm and left a loud kiss on her cheek. It had been several years since Tissaia had begun to realize that her feelings for Yennefer were not exactly the adequate ones of a teacher to her former student, something her friends exploited every time they had the opportunity to do so.

"Maybe you should talk to her," Vanielle suggested. Her ability to hear even the most imperceptible of sounds –including the heartbeats of those around her– made her the perfect lie detector and the only living person capable of knowing who was in love with whom, earlier than the ones involved themselves.

"And take the risk of she thinking of me as some kind of mentally ill person? No thanks, I'd rather die alone than make her think that I’m harassing her," the chestnut sank on the couch and closed her eyes, trying to relax a little, while unbuttoning the first buttons on her shirt, "plus, she has always hated me, it wouldn't make sense to even try to get close to her".

While Tissaia had begun to develop feelings that she did not intend to recognize under any kind of pressure or threat, she was more than aware that trying to hide something from any of her friends would be of no use. Rita's connection to the Spirit World was so strong that, if it wasn't for her touching Tissaia’s body right now, she would doubt whether if she was actually there with them or projecting her spirit from somewhere in the school, it was impossible to lie to her when she could practically read her soul. In Vanielle's case, her refined ear could perceive lies within a mile around, so why even try? Probably she could sense how her heart speeded up just by thinking of Yennefer, so it would be useless. It wouldn't be worth the effort. The rectoress put her legs on the couch too and shrugged on herself, taking shelter in Rita's arms, trusting that it would soften her enough to spare her that conversation. Apparently, her exhaustion was not enough.

"You're acting like you're fifteen. It seems a lie that you're already forty," the blonde turned her eyes blank, as she filled her glass with one of her hands, holding the glass between her legs so she could keep Tissaia hugged with her other arm. It was a miracle that she didn’t spill the bottle.

"When she was fifteen, she wasn't so useless flirting," Vanielle murmured.

"Oh, excuse me, it took me five more years to get her attention, and yet she was horribly clumsy… At least the sex was great".

"It was, indeed, she’s skilled," added the brunette, knowing it would frustrate her friend.

"Can we stop talking about flirting! Nobody's flirting with anybody here!" Tissaia's cheeks had practically reached the color of the wine that all three were drinking, because even if she tried to deny it, the topic of conversation could be quite embarrassing. All of them were well above any kind of romantic or sexual relationship that ever existed between them, but that didn't mean that anything 'emotional' didn't get the nerves on the rectoress, triggering all her insecurities. While a woman's self-control and toughness were astonishing, her emotions and embarrassing subjects had always been sensitive matter. And neither of her friends could know why, since she had nothing to be embarrassed of while bed related.

"Maybe we should teach her again how to flirt," the blonde proposed.

"And having Keira and Philippa deciding to join us?" Vanielle raised an eyebrow, "I’m totally in".

"Perhaps that's how we could attract Yennefer's attention and..." Whatever Rita intended to say died on her lips when heavy bangs sounded at Tissaia's door, attracting the attention and guiding their eyes in the direction of the entrance.

Instead of responding, Tissaia stood up and walked to the door, still with the glass in her hand. Since she was no longer wearing her heels, the first buttons of her shirt were open and the joint action of wine and conversation had caused an intense blush to spread across her cheeks, the image the rectoress could offer at the time was completely different from that of anyone outside Tissaia's room at the time. Perhaps that's why Yennefer stopped her hand mid-air before knocking on the door a seventh time, letting her eyes descend to the woman's face. Some locks had escaped from Tissaia's perfect bun and that was the first thing Yennefer thought when she saw the smaller woman, before adding to her list of thoughts that _'red suits her very_ _well', 'Tissaia blushing is the most adorable thing I've ever seen, how can I save and replay a memory? I should Google it', 'what do I have to do to get her to blush?', 'don't look at her neckline, don’t look at her… Oh, gods, she's got the shirt top buttons open, 'stop thinking about ripping off her shirt, for the gods, Yennefer’ ‘fuck, now I’m too aroused to behave like a normal person’ ‘I hate her so much'._ Okay, maybe her heart had stopped and that was Tissaia total and absolutely to blame. She had to think about breathing, how did she breathe before? It was very difficult to remember how to do anything with such a sight in front of her eyes. She hated the woman in standing in front of her, she hated her because she didn't need to do anything to fluster and ruin her, beyond existing, looking at her or even talking to her. Oh gods, Tissaia was raising an eyebrow now! Shit, maybe if she ran out, she could save her pride and keep hiding her intense need to see what the wine in that glass tasted on the rectoress' lips. _'No_ , _Yennefer, don't think about it. There’s people inside, they could ruin your advances on wooing her.'_

"Yennefer?" Tissaia repeated for the third time and oh, how the young woman would love to hear her say her name that way under other conditions.

"Speaking of which… I think she killed her," whispered Rita, so Vanielle would be the only one to hear her and chuckle.

"Mhm?" Yennefer managed. ‘What do you mean, _mhm_? Are you an idiot, Yennefer?‘

"Can you tell why the hell you were knocking on my door like a madwoman at twelve o'clock on a Wednesday?"

'Uh... To check how many orgasms I can give you before you pass out,' she thought. "This... Right! Fuck!" She said instead, trying to remember the reason that had taken her there. When recalling it, her stomach stirred and the intense red color that had painted her face, without her noticing, disappeared, replaced by deadly paleness, "I need you to come with me now, it's important and very urgent".

"What happened? Has anyone died?"

While the rectoress had not asked that last question seriously, Yennefer’s face and the lack of response were more than enough as an answer.

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully this will be less angsty than any of my other longer fics.


End file.
